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Leader of neutralized criminal gang to stay in custody

Politics
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The Court of Criminal Appeals today upheld the decision of a Yerevan court which had placed Artur Vardanyan, the leader of a criminal gang uncovered and neutralized in Yerevan in November 2015, under arrest. Talking to A1+, Vardanyan’s lawyer Sirush Aghvanyan said they are going to appeal to the Court of Appeals. Levon Barseghyan, the second lawyer of Artur Vardanyan, says he was not surprised by the decision. “Courts [in Armenia] perform the role of an executioner,” he said. After arresting the criminal gang, the Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said Artur Vardanyan, a citizen of Armenia living overseas, traveled to Armenia earlier in 2015 and set up a criminal organization that obtained large amounts of guns and ammunition and hid them at a private house rented in Yerevan’s Nork district. The group planned to carry out a series of serious crimes in Armenia. On November 25, 2015, the NSS raided the house, seized the weapons, and arrested nine individuals, including Vardanyan.